Automated Startup Repair fails. Cannot find OS Loader.

Anonymous
2009-11-02T14:44:48+00:00

On installation of 'Windows 7', after installing needed drivers, some of which were designed for XP or Vista, on a Toshiba Portege M200 (Tablet PC from 2003) and Windows 7 automatically downloading and installing updates:

Windows 7 can't boot.

It goes directly to the Automated System Recovery and no matter which option I choose it fails to fix the problem.

  1. Sometimes it says it did fix the problem and didn't.
  2. Sometimes it says it failed to fixed the problem and in those cases the Diagnosis and Repair details says as:

Root cause found:

Boot manager failed to find OS loader.

Repair action: File Repair

Result: Failed. Error code = 0x490

Time Taken = 4767 ms

Repair action: Boot configuration data store repair

Result: Failed. Error code = 0x490

Time Taken = 150ms

Repair action: System Restore

Result: Failed. Error code = 0x1f

Time taken = 68489 ms

What is the cause of this? And how do I fix it?

The harddrive is brand new and a full memory check said the RAM was good.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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Anonymous
2010-09-23T12:15:39+00:00

I had the same problem on one of our laptops.  This has 2GB of memory so it appears to be related to that and Windows updates.  I did the following from the following Microsoft article which resolved the issue for me http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392/en-gb.

To run the Bootrec.exe tool, you must start Windows RE. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Put the Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
  2. Press a key when you are prompted.
  3. Select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard or an input method, and then clickNext.
  4. Click Repair your computer.
  5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
  6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
  7. Type Bootrec.exe, and then press ENTER.

Note To start the computer from the Windows Vista or Windows 7 DVD, the computer must be configured to start from the DVD drive. For more information about how to configure the computer to start from the DVD drive, see the documentation that is included with the computer or contact the computer manufacturer.

!\[\](http://support.microsoft.com/library/images/support/kbgraphics/public/en-us/uparrow.gif)Back to the top

Bootrec.exe options The Bootrec.exe tool supports the following options. Use the option that is appropriate for your situation.

NoteIf rebuilding the BCD does not resolve the startup issue, you can export and delete the BCD, and then run this option again. By doing this, you make sure that the BCD is completely rebuilt. To do this, type the following commands at the Windows RE command prompt:

  • bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
  • c:
  • cd boot
  • attrib bcd -s -h -r
  • ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
  • bootrec /RebuildBcd

/FixMbr The /FixMbr option writes a Windows 7 or Windows Vista-compatible MBR to the system partition. This option does not overwrite the existing partition table. Use this option when you must resolve MBR corruption issues, or when you have to remove non-standard code from the MBR. /FixBoot The /FixBoot option writes a new boot sector to the system partition by using a boot sector that is compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Use this option if one of the following conditions is true:

  • The boot sector has been replaced with a non-standard Windows Vista or Windows 7 boot sector.
  • The boot sector is damaged.
  • An earlier Windows operating system has been installed after Windows Vista or Windows 7 was installed. In this scenario, the computer starts by using Windows NT Loader (NTLDR) instead of Windows Boot Manager (Bootmgr.exe).

/ScanOs The /ScanOs option scans all disks for installations that are compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Additionally, this option displays the entries that are currently not in the BCD store. Use this option when there are Windows Vista or Windows 7 installations that the Boot Manager menu does not list. /RebuildBcd

The /RebuildBcd option scans all disks for installations that are compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Additionally, this option lets you select the installations that you want to add to the BCD store. Use this option when you must completely rebuild the BCD.

After following the above i then ran the following from command prompt:

bootrec /fixmbr

then

bootrec /fixboot

This resolved the issue for me and allowed me to log on to the PC in its previous working state.  Great stuff.

Hope this works for you!

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  1. Anonymous
    2009-11-26T17:44:43+00:00

    Dena - I'm afraid that does not solve the problem.

    This has now happened for the third time, but this time I came prepared.  I had noticed an article that mentioned that the bootloader can't read past the first two gigs.

    So I opened a command prompt from advanced recovery options, and did as follows:

      d:

      cd \windows\system32

      copy advapi32.dll advapi32.dll.original

      copy winload.exe advapi32.dll

      ren winload.exe winload.exe.original

      ren advapi32.dll winload.exe

      ren advapi32.dll.original advapi32.dll

    And lo - it did indeed solve the "cannot find os loader" problem.  It seems that the file somehow got relocated to an inaccessible (>2GB?) location.  That this can happen in the first place is shocking.

    However this is not the end of the story.  Now I get a flash of the "Starting Windows 7" screen, and it goes to startup repair again.  This time, it says that the issue is that the OS booted successfully, which is marvelously unhelpful.  So I turned off recovery:

      bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled no

    And now instead of the spectacularly useless startup repair I get a far more useful message: c:\windows\system32\config\system is missing or corrupt (same error code as it originally gave for winload.exe, which suggests that it's the same problem).

    The first step I take is to copy the file from regback, which unfortunately does not help.

    I am currently working on the theory that this is also a >2gb issue, and so I'm trying to think of a way to relocate the file.

    At any rate: I am very dissatisfied both with startup repair and with the fact that this is even possible, and most of all with the fact that it's now happened three times!

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  2. Anonymous
    2009-11-26T17:50:20+00:00

    Update: the specific error code (this is for \windows\system32\config\system now) is 0xc00000e9; just means damaged system files, so my inference was wrong.  Still attempting various fixes.

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-11-26T18:23:32+00:00

    Further update: no success replacing the system hive from the backup or doing the file-swap trick.  So I'm back to restoring from an image.  Dena, this is a serious problem.  I need a real solution.

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  4. Anonymous
    2009-11-30T07:31:32+00:00

    Fourth time.  I am now seriously considering abandoning Windows 7 and advising my colleagues to do the same.

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